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created by Niranjan Nagle on Dec 31, 2012 11:30 AM, last modified by
Jul 9, 2015 7:56 AM
Niranjan Nagle
on
Version 17
inShare88
ABSTRACT
Today IDocs are used in most SAP applications for transfer of
message(information) from SAP system to other systems and
vice versa. Though lot of documentation is available on IDocs it
is difficult for a functional consultant to understand such
documents due to their technical nature. While a functional
consultant is not expected to know the IDoc concepts in its
entirety, an effort has been made to capture the minimum
necessary information that one needs to be aware of in order
to
handle project/support
issues
on
IDocs.
OVERVIEW
IDoc is an SAP object that carries data of a business transaction from
one system to another in the form of electronic message. IDoc is an
acronym forIntermediate Document. The purpose of an IDoc is to
transfer data or information from SAP to other systems and vice versa.
The transfer from SAP to non-SAP system is done via EDI (Electronic
Data Interchange) subsystems whereas for transfer between two SAP
systems, ALE is used.
IDoc can be triggered in SAP system or in EDI subsystem. This depends
on the direction in which IDoc is sent and is called as Inbound IDoc and
Outbound IDoc accordingly. In case of outbound flow, IDoc is triggered in
SAP through document message control which is then sent to EDI
subsystem. EDI converts the data from IDoc into XML or equivalent
format and then sends the data to partner system through Internet.
For inbound flow, EDI converts partner data and IDoc is created in SAP.
After successful processing of this IDoc, Application Document is posted
in SAP.
IDOC EXTENSION
Basic type contains all the standard fields that are necessary for carrying
out a business transaction. However, if any additional values are to be
sent to the partner then we can make use of the IDoc Extension feature.
IDoc extension is extension of basic type and contains additional custom
IDoc segments and fields that are not available in standard basic type.
IDOC SEGMENTS
IDoc segments contain the actual data that is sent to or received
from a partner. These segments contain the actual values that are sent
as part of IDoc transmission.
INBOUND/OUTBOUND IDOCS
IDocs sent outside the system are termed as Outbound IDocs and the
ones that are received into the system, are called as Inbound IDocs.
IDOC DIRECTION
This signifies the direction is which information is sent and is similar to
terminology used in mails. If information is sent outside the system then
the direction is outbox when it is received into the system then direction
is inbox. In SAP Outbox direction is represent by 1 i.e. outbox and
Inbox direction is represented by 2.
PARTNER
Partner is the Business Partner with which the exchange of information
is to take place using IDoc. It can be a vendor or customer or any other
system. Depending on the direction of information in which the
information is sent it plays a role of either a sending partner or a
receiving partner.
PARTNER TYPE
Partner type/role is used to identify partners within the sap systems.
Partner type is KU for customer, LI for vendor and LS for Logical
System.
MESSAGE TYPE
IDoc processing involves transmission or receipt of document in the form
of a message, each of which represents a document in SAP. These
documents can be Order, Shipment Confirmation, Advance Shipping
Notification, Goods Receipt, or Invoice. Message type is associated with
Basic IDoc Type (Basic Type) and defines the kind of data or document
that is exchanged with the partner.
PROCESS CODE
The process code contains the details of the Function Module that are
used for IDoc processing. Message Type can be linked to the Process
code.
PORT
IDoc Port contains the information about the way data is sent between
the source or target system. The type of port defines the information
contained within the port. For port type Internet Port will contain IP
address of the target system. For port type file, directory or file name
information is maintained. tRFC port contains information about the
RFC destination of the target system. For IDoc transmission using ALE
tRFC ports are used.
PARTNER PROFILE MAINTENANCE
PARTNER PROFILE (WE20)
Partner profile must be maintained for all the business partners to whom
we want to send or receive the IDocs. The TCODE for maintaining the
partner profile is WE20.
These records are stored in the transparent tables in SAP. These are
EDIDC, EDID4 and EDIDS.
CONTROL RECORD (EDIDC)
It contains information such as IDoc number, direction, IDoc Status,
Basic Type, Message Type, Partner (Sender/Receiver), date and time of
creation/update, Interchange File or ISA number,etc.
IDoc segment has fields that contain the data necessary for posting the
documents.
The relationship between the IDoc and the application document can be
found in two ways:
1. Relationship tab of IDoc
The initial status of this IDoc will be 30, which after successful
processing will convert into status 16.
A successful outbound IDoc will pass through all the above statuses in
reverse order (01-03-18-06-12-16). Each status represents an IDoc
validation step. If an IDoc passes all the validations it would reach status
16. These different validation steps for outbound IDocs are explained
below:
01: IDoc generation successful
30: IDoc is ready to be processed by IDoc Processing job
03: IDoc data is passed to the Port
18: IDoc successfully triggered EDI subsystem
06: IDoc data translated to EDI format
12: IDoc is dispatched successfully to the partner
16: Partner has received the IDoc successfully
IDoc can possibly fail at any of the above steps during validation.
RECEIVING AN INBOUND IDOC
The initial status of an inbound IDoc is 64 and successful status is 53.
Different validation steps for inbound IDocs are explained below:
50: IDoc received successfully in the system
64: IDoc is ready to be processed by IDoc processing job
53: Application document created and saved successfully. The document
number can be found by expanding the status node 53
An inbound IDoc goes through all the above statuses in reverse order
(50-64-53).
IDOC PROCESSING
AUTOMATIC/IMMEDIATE PROCESSING
In this case, IDoc are processed immediately as they generated or
added in the system. The check Transfer IDoc immediately is selected
in Outbound Options and Trigger Immediately is selected in Inbound
Option. These checks are generally used when the real time information
exchange is necessary between two systems.
MANUAL PROCESSING
IDocs can also be manually processed using the TCODE BD87 in SAP.
IDoc search can also be made on the basis of ISA or Transfer file
Reference.
Though, the IDoc failure may not be related to any of the above
mentioned reasons, the best way to find the IDoc error is to compare the
existing IDoc with the good example. Good example IDoc can be easily
searched with any of the IDoc search methods as described above.
DOCUMENTATION FOR IDOC TYPES
IDoc documentation can be found using TCODE WE60 and can be
helpful to obtain information of the IDoc Type or its particular segment. It
also provides information such as mandatory and optional segments,
minimum and maximum number of segments, etc.